- Importers rush to file as US regime launches tariff refund claims portal
Source: USA Today
“Jay Foreman said he’s ‘locked and loaded’ for the U.S. government’s April 20 launch of a new system to refund up to $166 billion in illegally collected tariffs, but he and many other importers are realistic that much could still go wrong. ‘You have to be worried about what they could possibly do to jam things up,’ said the CEO of toymaker Basic Fun, which sells Tonka trucks, Care Bears and K’Nex construction toys. The refund system is the latest twist in a drawn-out battle over tariffs collected over the past year …. The constantly shifting tariffs roiled global business as companies rushed to shift supply chains to avoid them as well as figure out who would ultimately pay the taxes. The Supreme Court in February struck down the tariffs President Trump pursued under a law meant for use in national emergencies, handing the president a stinging defeat.” (04/20/26)
- France: Prosecutors summon Musk, Yaccarino over alleged child abuse images, deepfakes on X
Source: Radio France Internationale [French state media]
“Billionaire Elon Musk has been summoned to Paris, where investigators are looking into allegations of misconduct related to the social media platform X, including the spread of child sexual abuse material and deepfake content. Musk, the world’s richest man, and Linda Yaccarino – the former CEO of X – have been called for voluntary interviews on Monday, the Paris prosecutor’s office said. It is unclear whether either will attend. Prosecutors said the interviews would allow executives to ‘present their position’ and outline compliance measures. They described the inquiry as a ‘constructive approach’ aimed at ensuring X complies with French law.” (04/20/26)
- AZ: Residents kill home intruder
Source: AOL
“A man was shot and killed after police say he forced his way inside a Phoenix home overnight. Just after 3:15 a.m. on April 18, officers said 25-year-old Isaac Nathaniel Cordova-Fregoso forced entry into a home near 74th and Pueblo Avenue. The residents inside confronted the man and shot him at least once. Cordova-Fregoso was found inside the home with at least one gunshot wound. He died at the scene from his injuries.” (04/19/26)
https://www.aol.com/news/intruder-killed-forcing-way-phoenix-212126601.html
- Iranian military warns it will “soon respond” after US destroyer attacks cargo ship
Source: Le Monde [France]
“A US destroyer on Sunday, April 19, fired on and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman that tried to evade a US naval blockade, President Donald Trump and the US military said the same day. … Iran’s military on Sunday vowed to respond. ‘We warn that the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will soon respond and retaliate against this armed piracy and the US military,’ said a spokesperson for the military’s central command center, Khatam Al-Anbiya, cited by ISNA news agency. He accused the United States of having ‘violated the ceasefire’ that has been in place since April 8.” (04/20/26)
- Russia: Ukrainian drone attack on port kills one
Source: Reuters
“A Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Black Sea port of Tuapse sparked a fire and killed at least one person, Russian officials said on Monday, only hours after a blaze was extinguished following a similar attack on April 16. One of Russia’s major southern ports, Tuapse is an oil product export hub that also handles dry bulk cargo, such as coal and fertiliser. In addition, it is home to a major oil refinery of the same name owned by Rosneft. … Ukraine has intensified attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure in the past month as U.S.-brokered peace talks have stalled with Washington more focused on the war in Iran.” (04/20/26)
- Zooming In, 04/19/26
Source: The UnPopulist
“Trump Proved to be Unimaginably Bad for the Free Market Cause: A Conversation with Veronique de Rugy.” (04/19/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/trump-proved-to-be-unimaginably-bad
- America is the Bad Guy in This Movie
Source: exile in happy valley
by Nicky Reid“For nearly a century, mainstream American cinema has regurgitated, devoured, and re-regurgitated the same foaming popcorn mythology in which it is presented as basic common sense that America is always the good guy and that every foreigner with a funny accent who stands in his way is a totally otherized human bowling pin who exists for the sole purpose of being obliterated again and again and again in a voluptuous bacchanalia of endless machine gun barrages and bottomless stacks of bloodless corpses. Your average American is raised on a steady diet of this schlock with a side of paint-by-the-numbers public school history teachers who can turn any warzone into a beige labyrinth of names and dates to memorize for next week’s ludoviko scantron test.” (04/19/26)
https://exileinhappyvalley.blogspot.com/2026/04/america-is-bad-guy-in-this-movie.html
- The high cost of high minimum wages
Source: The Hill
by Fracois Melese“New York City’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, is pushing for ‘$30 in ’30,’ to raise the city’s minimum from $17 today to $30/hour by the end of the decade. Supporters applaud lawmakers granting struggling workers a ‘living wage.’ The logic seems clear: Wage hikes boost incomes, making life more affordable. But although increases to the minimum wage help those lucky enough to keep their jobs, hours and benefits, they hurt many more.” (04/19/26)
https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/5836543-pro-growth-policies-affordability/
- Ideas We Can Steal
Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman“My previous post provided an example of the use of past legal systems in understanding our present legal system: the logic of feud law applied to high tech patent litigation. There are others, some of which suggest changes we might want to make to our system, ideas we could steal.” (04/19/26)
- Behind the “disappearing scientists” hysteria
Source: UnHerd
by Richard Hanania“Are America’s top scientists being kidnapped or disappeared by a foreign adversary? Right-wing media are abuzz with speculation that 11 different individuals working on issues related to secret technology or the investigation of extraterrestrial life have been picked off one by one: murdered, kidnapped, disappeared. The stuff of The X-Files, in short: ‘The truth is out there,’ but shadowy forces don’t want you to know. After working its way through the conservative press and the online Right, this narrative got a major boost last week, when White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the administration was looking into the matter. … Fortunately, this entire narrative appears to be, to put it gently, complete nonsense.” (04/19/26)
- In America’s First Solar-Powered Town, Education Options Abound
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Kerry McDonald“[Amanda] Pacheco is one of approximately 15,000 residents in what is known as America’s first solar-powered town, defined by its environmental vision, hurricane resilience and strong sense of community. Since welcoming its first residents in January 2018, Babcock Ranch’s population has soared, with plans to reach 50,000 in the years ahead. As this future-focused community grows, its K-12 education landscape is expanding alongside it, shaped by the same spirit of innovation. With a rising assortment of public schooling, homeschooling and micro-schooling options, Babcock Ranch offers a distinct snapshot of today’s evolving education offerings and the families who choose them.” (04/19/26)
https://fee.org/articles/in-americas-first-solar-powered-town-education-options-abound/
- The War Powers Resolution Is Not What You’ve Been Told
Source: Antiwar.com
by David Swanson“According to The Hill, in an article typical of U.S. media, Trump’s war on Iran is totally legal for 60 days if Congress does nothing, after which it becomes illegal, unless Congress has explicitly OK’d it. This is supposedly because of the War Powers Resolution of 1973. And The Hill is not alone in pushing this idea. However, the War Powers Resolution consists of words that you can read for yourself, and here are some of them …. It is simply not true that the war will become illegal after 60 days; it has been illegal since the instant it was begun. It is factually false that it must be ended after 60 days in order to comply with the law; it must be ended immediately.” (04/19/26)
- Trump: An Alternative Hypothesis
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp“Some commentators look at Trump and the MAGA-dominated Republican Party and conclude that ‘the chaos is the point.’ That is, the purpose of some of the weirder and wilder actions of Trump’s administration is to build an omnipotent totalitarian state by sowing fear, discord, and confusion — to keep their opponents on perpetual tenterhooks, disorganized and unable to effectively respond, as new authoritarian measures roll out. But what if it’s not that?” (04/19/26)
- Unattended Baggage, episode 337
Source: Unattended Baggage
“Adrian forgets to push a button, Alex still trying to crawl out of his dark hole, you can trust us when we urge you not to trust us, Anthropic just became the most powerful entity on Earth …” (04/19/26)
- Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 04/19/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“US Navy Attacks Iranian Cargo Ship, Israel Establishes Gaza-Style ‘Yellow Line’ in Lebanon, and More.” (04/19/26)
- The Good Fight, 04/18/26
Source: Yascha Mounk
“Michael Shermer on Truth and Conspiracy.” (04/18/26)